Door mechanism



Sept. 27, 193.2. LUITE ET AL 1,879,369

DOOR MECHANISM Filed Aug. 14, 1929 s Sheets-Sheet 1 5 rf-v5-7oesv CHEL. -LUT'E 5 ENNETH .7. 7Z78/A/ LUTE ET AL DOOR MECHANISM Sept. 27, 1932.

Filed Aug. 14, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 fv VEN Toe;

C924. Luv-s Sept. 27, 1932.

c. LUTE ET AL DOOR MECHANISM a Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 14, 1929 "fA/vE/v Tores- Ce/em Luvs KENNETH J 755W Patented Sept. 27, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICET CARI; LUTE AND KENNETH J. TOBIN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOISQASSIGNORS, TO CAMEI;

COMIANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS DOOR MECHANISM Application filed August 14, 1929. Serial mi. 385,826. I

This invention relates to improvements in door mechanism, and more particularly to improvements in mechanism associated with sliding doors of the type generally used 111.

railway cars.

Various constructions in which the door when in a position of rest seats upon a flat surface in order that the friction caused by the heavy weight o-f'the door will prevent accidental and undesirable sliding movement of the door during shunting of the car, but when it is desired to move the door the construction is such that the door may be lifted and theweight transferred to supporting rollers, wherebyv an easy and frictionless movement of the door between open and closed positions may be had. It is desirable that the construction besuch that the door will automatically drop to the fiat seat when left unattended whether the door be in either open or closed position or at a point partially between the two.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a construction of door lifting mechanism whereby a very slight pressure is required upon the operating lever to raise the door and support it upon the rollers; In carrying out the first mentioned object of the invention it is the purpose of the present improvements to provide mechanism which essentially consists of a double toggle arran gement whereby a high mechanical advantage is secured.

It is further an object of the present invention to provide, in connection with the door lifting mechanism, when associated with the lower edge of the door, door sealing be readily manufactured and assembled and replacement of parts may be readily had by providing a design such that the parts at the right and left-hand ends of the door are identical in form. 7

Further and additional objects and advanhave been proposed tion taken on th'e plane indicated by 8 8 tages of the present improvements will be. more readily apparent asthe description proceeds, when taken in' connectionwith the attacheddrawings, in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated,

Inthedrawings-; l Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of a freight car having the improved door lifting mechanism and door sealing means associated therewith, the door being illustrated in lowered position;

Figure 2 is a fragmentaryview',similar to l of the door'lifting means and roller'mechanism at one end of the door, the construction being shown on a slightly enlarged scale, the door being in lowered position; Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but illustrating the door inraisedposition;

Figure 5-is a vertical section taken transverse to Figure 1, on the plane indicated by 55, the view being shown on a larger scale with portions broken away for clearness of illustration; r V Figure 6 is a transverse vertical section, similar toKFigure 5, but taken on the plane indicated by 66 in Figure 1;

I Figure 7 is a vertical section similar to L Figure 8- is a fragmentary horizontal secin Figure 1. a j V In the drawings, 10 indicates a-freight car door of any ordinary type. 11 is a portion of a car side which includes a longitudinal Z- bar 12 at the top of the car andbrackets I 13-13 at the bottom of the car which'sup-v port a track member 14. The track member 14 is substantially T-sha'ped' in section and includesa top flange 15 and a Vertical flange 16. The vertical flange 16 is riveted to the brackets 13 by the rivets 17. i

The lower portion of the door 10 includes a sheet 18, which depends to extend behind V the inner portion of the flange 15 and thus revents outward swinging of-the door. To

dental sliding movement of the'door is pre-.

vented.

The present construction also provides an improved design at the upper edge of the door, whereby when the door is in stationary position, the ingress of the elements within the car is prevented by the cooperation of sealing means relatively carried by the car side and by the door. Thins, there is shown secured tothe depending flange of the Z-bar 12 a deformed Z-bar 21 fastened by the rivets The web 23 of the Z-bar'21 is in a horizontal position and extends over the top of the door. From the web 23 depends a flange 24, which includes an inwardly bent edge 25 at the lower portion thereof.

Brackets or retainers 26 are fastened to the upper portion of the door by the rivets 27 and extend upwardlyto overlap'the vertical flange 24 of the deformed Z-bar 21. The inner surface of the upper ends of the brackets 2626 is arcuately shaped to contact with the flange 24 and prevent inward movement of the door. Also secured to the upper edge of the'door, by rivets 65, is an angle member 28 including an outwardly extending flange 29 overlapping the flange 25. Thus, when the door is in stationary position flatly seating upon the track 14, the'flange 29 will contact with the flange 25 and thus seal the door.

Rollers30 are associated with the lower corners of the door and serve as rolling supports when the door is being moved. Similar to previous designs,'means is provided for lifting the door to transfer the weight to the rollers during operative movements. It will be apparent that present designs of steel doors call for aconstruction which has a considerable weight, and it is desirable that the raising meanshave a high leverage in order that the operator may raise the door with as little work as possible.

The mechanism to be described is an improved construction whichhas a large mechanical advantage and is positive in its action. The construction at both of the lower corners of the door is identical, and it will therefore be necessary to describe only one of the corner constructions.

There is provided a plate 31 which is fastened to the door sheet 18, and a U-shaped housing member 32 having laterally extending legs 33 which engage the plate 31. The plate 31 and member '32 together constitute a housing and are fastened together to the door sheet 18 by the rivets 34. In coaxial I positions to the plate 31 and housing member "provides a moimting for the roller 30. The

yoke-shaped member '38 may therefore be termed a roller retaming member. Also outwardly extending from the lower portlons of .the arms 39 arethree pairs of pivot pins which cooperate with the pins 35, 36 and37, already described. The construction is most clearly shown in Figure 7, in which there appears a lower pivot pin 41, a left-hand pin 42 somewhat above the pin 41 and a righthand pin 43 in line with the pin 42. 1 It will be understood that the corresponding pins on the opposite le of the yoke member will be coaxially arranged. A toggle link 44 connects the pins 35 and 41, while a toggle link 45 connects the pins 36 and 42. Also, a toggle link 46, similar to the link 45, connects the pins 37 and 43. It should be noticed that the pins 36-and 37 engage their respective links in slotted openings 47 and 48, while the remaining connections between the links and the pins comprise close fitting bearings.

The pins extending from the housing include shoulders 64 to hold the links in place.

The upper end of the yoke member '38 is formed with a clevis 49, in the arms of which is mounted a transversepivot pin 50, to which is connected an arm 51 including a cylindrical end 52 which is received in the end of a tubular cross-connecting member 53. At the mid portion of the cross member 53 is fixed a bracket 54, from which laterally extend hearing pins 55. The bearing pins 55 are received in the slotted openings 56 of a normally vertical lever member, generally designated 57. The lever 57 pivots about a pin 58, which is mounted bythe bracket 59 fastened to the door sheet 18 by the rivets 60. The lever also includes a cut out portion 61 in order to admit the cross member 53. The side portions 61, which are formed by the provision of the cut out portion 61, are provided with the slotted openings 56, previously described. The upper portion of the lever 57 constitutes a handle 62 and is somewhat outwardly deflected from the door to permit an operator to readily grasp the handle. Suitable hasp securing means for the door of any ordinary type may be provided, as shown in Figure 1 and generally designated as 63.

In order to move the door from closed'position, shown in Figure 1, the operator may either grasp the-cross tubular member 53 and thrust it to the right if he is working from the ground level, or step upon the handle 62 of the lever 57 if he is working from a platform. Byeither operation, a clockwise movement is imparted to each of the yoke members 38, which are normally in a substantially vertical position, similar to the lever 57. The clockwise movement of each of the yoke members 38 will tend to move the axis of the roller pin 40 closer to the lower pins which are fixed in position relative to the door. This relative movement will impart an upward thrust to the door and move it to the position indicated in Figures 2, 4 and 5.

It will be apparent that during this movement the lower links 44 and the left-hand links 45 will act as toggles and thereby develop a relatively high leverage, and the weight of the door will be divided between the pins 41 and 42 carried by the yoke members 38 and the pins 35 and 36 carried by the door. The right-hand links 46 will merely serve as stop members to limit the upward movement of the door. A continuation of the thrust towards the right upon the cross connecting member 53 will result in movement of the door supported by the rollers 30. Upon release of the pressure, the door will gravitally seat itself in its normal stationary position.

The construction is such that the rollers when the door is in stationary position will only contact the track suflicient to prevent free rotation of the rollers.

If the operator desires to move the door in the opposite direction there will merely be a reversal of the movements heretofore described. The door is prevented from inward or outward swinging by the members already described, and the sealing means will efiiciently operate to weather the door in the manner described.

Various modifications and changes may be resorted to in the commercial embodiment of the present improvements without departing from the spirit of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

7 What is claimed is 1. In combination, a sliding door, a relatively fixed track, supporting rollers for said door adapted to travel on said track, housing members carried by said door, retaining members for said rollers received by said housing members, a plurality of connecting links between said housing members and' said roller retainers, said links being pivotally connected to said roller retainers at points offset from the axis of said rollers, and means for turning said retaining members to lift said door. a

2. In combination, a sliding door, relatively fixed track, said door being mounted to gravitationally seat flatly upon said track when not in use, rollers for supporting said door for sliding movement, spindles for said rollers, mounting members for said spindles including integral lever arms, means for transmitting an operative movement to the ends of said lever arms, and means for communicating a lifting thrust to said door comprising links pivotally connected to said door and pivotally connected to said roller mountv ings at points offset from the axes of each of saidrollers. f

3. In combination, a sliding door, a relatively fixed track member, said door being mounted to gravitationally seat-upon said track, supporting rollers designed to travel on said track and carry the weight of said door during slidingmovement thereof, means for lifting said door to transfer the weight to said rollers, said means comprising a bar 1 horizontally mounted for movement parallel to said door, yoke-shaped roller retainers pivotallyconnect-ed tothe ends of said bar, I

housing members carried by said door} and adapted to receive said yoke-shaped members,

and said rollers, and links connected to said yokes and said housing members" wherebythemovement of saidbar will turn said yoke members and cause the door to be lifted.

1 4.In combination witha. track, adoor' resting upon said track for frictionally:re sisting sliding movement along said track, a roller adapted to travel upon said track and carry the weight of the door when the door is moved, a lever on which the roller is'rotatably mounted, said lever including upwardly and downwardly extending lever arms, a link member pivotally connected to the downwardly extending arm of said lever below the axis of saidroller, said link being, pivotally connectedat its lower endjto said door at a fixed pivotal point thereof, said link being in alignment with said lever when said door is frictionally resting upon said track, and operating means for said lever whereby the doormay be raised relative to the axis of the roller to transfer the weight of the door to the roller as it travels upon the track.

5. In combination with a track, a door normally resting upon said track for frictionally resisting sliding movement along said track, a roller arranged to travel upon said .trackand receiving the weight of the door lever to raise the door relative to the axis of .4

the roller.

6. In combination with a track, a door normally resting upon said track for frictionally resisting sliding movement along said track, a roller adapted to travel on said track and receive the weight of the door when the door is lifted relative to the track, a lever on which the roller is rotatably mounted, said lever including a downwardly extending lever arm, a link member pivotally connected at its upper end to the downwardly extending arm of said lever member below the axis of said roller and pivotally connected at its lower end at a fixed pivotal point on the door, operating means connected to said lever for raising the door relative to the axis of said roller and a pair of slotted links between said lever and said door for governing the movement of said lever. V Y

7. In combination with a track, a door normallyresting upon said track for frictionally resisting sliding movement along said track, arollerarranged to travel upon said track and receive the weight of the door when the door is lifted relative to the track, a movable raising member rotatably supporting said roller, a link pivotally connected to a fixed point on said door and pivotally connected to said raising member at a point normally in alignment with the axis of said roller'and the fixed pivotpoint on said door, a second link pivotally connected to said door at a point offset fromthe fixed pivot point of said first link and pivotally connected to said raising member at a point offset from the axis of said roller and means for operating said raising member to lift said door by lowering the axis of said roller relative to said door through turning movement of both of said links.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 9 day of August, 1929.

' CARL LUTE.

KENNETH J. TOBIN. 

